New Girl Specs

Who doesn't love Zooey Deschanel? She's the lovable quirky girl, who is every geek's dream! Well I think it is safe to say her following is MUCH larger than that now! I absolutely loved her in 500 Days of Summer.... GREAT movie if you haven't seen it, don't forget she was Santa's Helper in ELF and I'm loving seeing her on the small screen in New Girl.  She sings, she's goofy, she's funny, she co-founded Hello Giggles, which if you don't follow, you totally should!  Yes, I could go on and on about how much I heart Zooey Deschanel.  One more thing to love about her and alter ego Jess is her super cute specs!

Her glasses on New Girl are from Oliver Peoples Wacks 51 Cocobolo frames.

A few other cute specs I found of her online. 

Are you a fan of Zooey Deschanel, her new show New Girl and her specs?


I'm thinking of doing a weekly celeb or cool looking spec report, anyone interested?

images via people.com, tv.ign.com, tumblr, warmingglow.uproxx.com

Turkey Day.. ALREADY!?

I cannot believe how fast this year is going.  Thanksgiving is right about here!  I cannot wait to indulge in turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, candied yams... MmMmM... pumpkin and apple pie as well!

Once Thanksgiving hits, its pretty much the start of the holiday season and the shopping shall begin! The malls have already started playing holiday music and all the decor is up.  Next thing before we know it, it will be Christmas and then NYE!

Don't forget to be thankful for all the loving people in your life and remind them:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!  

Hope everyone has a wonderful time! Can't wait to hear about all the great Black Friday deals ;)

pics via we heart it

Banana Republic Jewelry

I'm a huge fan of Banana Republic jewelry! My friend once bought me a simple necklace from there and ever since, I've been hooked! Recently I spotted out this chain necklace, which I loved.  Its a great mix of classic colors that you can wear for work or out with friends.  I tend to like chunky necklaces, but at the same time, that are still simple.  It wasn't on sale when I first spotted it so I decided to wait a little bit and sure enough 2 days later, once the weekend came, BR had a fantastic sale - 40% off everything! Of course, I scooped it up then and I cannot wait to wear it! Thought I shared my recent buy :)

Have you bought anything lately that you loved?

Bitchin' Kitchen Panko Shrimp

Recently while surfing the channels, I came across a show on Cooking Network called Bitchin' Kitchen. It was a little odd, like rock and roll, jersey shore cooking show... the show is hosted by Nadia G. It was quite hilarious and she has these random supporting characters. Initially, I was like what is this show!? Definitely not your typical cooking show, but for some reason, I got hooked. She made easy, but delicious looking dishes, which I love! I love recipes with minimal ingredients, but still amazingly good and easy to make!

From the Cooking Channel Panko Shrimp with Strawberry Aioli

INGREDIENTS

Panko Shrimp
Canola oil, for frying
12 jumbo tiger shrimp, de-veined and butterflied
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup honey panko (Japanese) bread crumbs, plus more for coating
Strawberry Aioli
1/3 cup Japanese mayonnaise
1/3 cup condensed milk
12 fresh strawberries

DIRECTIONS
1. To prepare the panko shrimp: Heat 1/4-inch of canola oil in a large heavy frying pan to 375 degree F
2. Place the beaten eggs in a shallow bowl and the bread crumbs in a shallow dish.
3. Dunk the butterflied tiger shrimp into the beaten eggs
4. Place in the bread crumbs and coat with honey panko crumbs and shake off the excess bread crumbs
5. Fry the shrimp for 1 minute per side or until they start curving in on themselves
6. Place them on a wire rack to drain the excess oil.

7. To make the strawberry aioli: In a bowl, combine the Japanese mayonnaise with the condensed milk and mix together.
8. Puree the strawberries in a food processor.
9. Place the fried panko shrimp with a side of Japanese mayo sauce and strawberry puree for dipping.

This recipe was SUPER simple. The longest part was de-veining the shrimp, and taking the time to fry each one of them since I got a bunch! I actually used a rasberry puree because strawberries were out of season. My mom liked the sauce a lot, but I'm not a huge fan of mayo, but I wanted to make it with it anyway! But definitely the combination of the Japanese mayo and the rasberry puree was a great touch to the dish.

From start to finish!

Buzzing for the Clarisonic

I am in love with this Clarisonic Skin Care System. It based off the Sonicare electric toothbrush. Supposedly, the company found out that patients were using the toothbrush on their faces as an exfoliator so they created the Clarisonic cleanser tool. It is an oscillating brush system, which moves back and forth 300 times per second to clean pores and the skin surface.

You can use any cleanser on the brush and it's suppose to clean your face 60% better than your typical washing face method. I always feel that after using makeup, even after I wash my face, there is still makeup residue on my face, no matter how many times I scrub and even with makeup remover.

I was at Bloomingdales and this sales lady suckered me into trying the Clarisonic skin care system. I was already skeptical, but I gave her 5 min of my time. In 5 minutes, she already sold me. The brush was very soft and gentle. It only takes a minute for it to clean your face on the lowest setting. It literally felt so refreshing after I used it. I felt that I just got a facial. It was super nice and I actually felt that my skin looked better too! Crazy after only 1 minute of cleansing.

Per the Sephora website:
Here are some of the benefits this revolutionary skincare tool delivers:
- Removes makeup six times better than traditional methods.
- Clears pores and reduces the appearance of pore size.
- Cleanses so thoroughly that skincare products absorb better.
- Creates noticeably healthier-looking skin.

There are different lines of the Clarisonic brand.

1) Clarisonic Mia, $119: compact version, 1 speed
2) Clarisonic Mia 2, $149: compact, 2 speed, available on Clarisonic website, not at retailers yet
2) Clarisonic Plus, $195: 3 speeds, universal charging cradle, 1 sensitive head brush
3) Clarisonic Plus Skin, $225, 3 speeds, universal charging cradle, 1 sensitive head brush, 1 body brush

These products are also available at your local doctor's office.  The difference is that the ones based out of physician offices have an additional speed, so the Clarisonic Plus Skin has 4 speeds, however I don't think the Mia has an extra speed.

The Mia is great, small and compact, and definitely less expensive. Most people will only need one speed.  However, I don't like how it doesn't have a charger cradle... that means more clutter in the bathroom and we all know, we don't need more of that! But the the price difference, its definitely a consideration!

The Plus is great if you have more sensitive skin - it has 2 face speeds, one for sensitive skin and another for normal skin and it does come with the charge cradle.  It is larger than the Mia, so it depends on what you prefer.  The Plus Skin has an extra speed for your skin - so its face and body all in one.  This is great exfoliator for rough patches, arms, elbows, feet, etc.  The only thing is, I doubt I personally would take the time to use it for my body, but if you have some body skin issues, this may definitely help.

I'm not sure how warranties and guarantees work when you buy it at a retailer as opposed to Clarisonic.com, but on their website, they tout:

You have nothing to lose in trying any Clarisonic product. We are happy to offer a 90-day, 100% money back guarantee on our sonic cleansing systems and on our sonic infusion systems. Both the cleansing and infusion systems come with a warranty covering any manufacturer defect-related problems resulting from everyday use of the product. The warranty does not cover damage resulting from use with a voltage converter. Voltage converters or plug adapters do not guarantee voltage compatibility.

Following are the warranty terms for each Clarisonic model:

• Clarisonic Mia®: 1 year
• Clarisonic Mia 2: 2 years
• Clarisonic Classic: 2 years
• Clarisonic PLUS: 2 years
• Clarisonic PRO: 3 years for PRO models manufactured after January 2010. 2 years for PRO models manufactured before January 2010.

I heard from a store associate at Sephora that another friends and family discount (20% off) will be out for in stores soon, if you missed this one that was online, so be patient.. good things come to those who wait ;)

Have you tried this product? Are you interested in getting it?

images via sephora

Black Swan Halloween!

The question always is, what to be for Halloween.  I rarely ever buy full costumes to wear.  I usually may buy accessories here and there to help with the outfit, but that's about it. D and I decided to make our own costumes this year.  Our costumes cost less than ten bucks, but we did spend a while on them! I can't complain cuz we did have fun and his costume I think especially turned out great!

My cousin Christine and I decided to channel our Natalie Portman and be White Swan and Black Swan. I also just noticed that Lea Michele dressed as the White Swan as well!

Making a White Swan/Black Swan costume was beyond easy! Here are my easy steps!

1.  Create a tutu with 4+ yards of tulle.  The more tulle you have, the poufier it will be.  I would say the minium you need is 4 yards, my cousin used 6 yards, however I wore a white fluffy skirt underneath so it didn't have to be too covering for me. For the Black Swan, she wore a leotard underneath.
2. Try this no sew method I found on youtube. You can always move the spacing of each tulle piece, separate it more if you didn't get as much tulle.  I used a ribbon/string I had at home that fit around my waist as opposed to elastic, but you could use either/or.
3.  I sewed feathers all around my skirt and a tube top I had.  Use a needle to pierce through each stem of the feathers.  I would thread 5 or so feathers together and then sew them onto the base of my skirt. For my top, I placed the feathers together as how I liked, sewed them together and then sewed them onto my tube top.  My tube top was straight across so I just bunched the middle together and stitched it to give it a V neck shape.
4. For my headpiece, I used white felt, which I cut into the shape of a leaf. I glued on feathers and a few rhinestones onto white felt and attached them to a headband with glue.  I wore the headband upside down to get the feathers sitting up.
5.  Finish off the outfit with some white tights and very shimmery white eyeshadows.  I didn't have time to find some white face powder, but that definitely adds to the look as well!

Simple enough, and ta-da, a white swan is born! Obviously make the right adjustments to create a Black Swan costume :)

I love matchy match costumes!  Good vs. Evil =P

My green crayloa!

At the very end of the night, we end with:

Late night JUMBO slice pizza, D.C. tradition!

How was your Halloween? 
What did you dress up as?

image via vanity fair

Madewell Super Sale

I ALWAYS love a good deal! I rarely ever buy anything full-price unless its something that likely won't go on sale or I really LOVE it.  For most things, if you wait or search online, you can always find a discount!

During my recent travel around Asia, I thought I had packed my favorite necklaces (my mistake for packing the 3 that I wear all the time, leaving none left once they got jacked!) but by the time I got to Hong Kong, they were no longer in my luggage and once I got home, no where to be found..... so whatever happened to them, whether stolen or dropped out of my bag unexpectedly, someone else is enjoying them! It totally breaks my heart :(  Key jewelry pieces can elevate an outfit to a whole another level. Ever since then, I go into a wide variety of stores even if I don't shop there often just to sneak a peak at their jewelry section in search of replacements for my prev favorites.   

As I stopped in Madewell, I found a ridiculous sale section there!  They had a whole bunch of things on a table for 4.99 each!  They had shorts, white denim skinnies, bathing suits, lightweight soft t-shirts! The assortment of clothes was great! The only thing was most of the sizes of pants/shorts were all larger than what I wear so I couldn't fit any of them, but if you happen to fit into any of them, it would be an AMAZING deal.  I couldn't believe you could get a pair of denim jeans that go for around $100 for only $5! I bought 3 shirts that day for TWENTY bucks from Madewell! Amazing deal, two of them were $5 and I found something on a non-$4.99 rack that was only $10.  I asked the cashier, how often do they have these amazing deals... she said mainly at the end of a season, when things haven't been selling and they really just want to get rid of them.  Great for us!  Anyway, keep an eye out for these deals!  Madewell, unlike its sister's store, J.Crew, you can definitely find some amazing deals there! I love the clothes there as well, although at regular price, its a little steep for me to justify without a good sale :)  

Happy Shopping!

BTW, it's been less than a week since I encountered this sale and from the sale people, it seems like it goes on until most of the merchandise is gone. If you guys have encountered this sale, let me know if your local Madewell has it!  The one I went to was in Tysons Corner, VA.